Here’s what you helped us achieve in 2024
Your support is helping thousands of New Yorkers turn their lives around.
As you look at the impact of your support, it may seem like just numbers. But hidden behind these results, there is an individual, a child, an elder, or an entire family whose life has been changed for the better – all thanks to support from people like you.
- Empowered 33 Asian-serving organizations to keep New Yorkers safe, training 672 individuals in safety techniques and delivering 411 protective services with 174 volunteers.
- Delivered 7,029 in-language, culturally competent mental health services to 2,819 Asian New Yorkers.
- Supported over 400 nonprofit staff to build capacity in their organizations through leadership programs and technical assistance sessions.
- Engaged over 310,000 Asian voters through phone, text, mail, in-person canvassing, and print campaigns.
- Partnered with organizations to help 654,800 clients across 14 counties receive critical services in 19 Asian languages.
- Secured $3.8 million in city funding for a community-based interpretation program that will help Asian New Yorkers not only better access government services but also find employment as translators.
Research
Since our inception, AAF has produced comprehensive research reports and briefs to highlight the needs of Asian American communities, advocate for policy changes to improve access to essential services, and use data to tell the story of our community. As the only Census Information Center serving Asian communities in the Northeast, we have also led the Census process for Asian New Yorkers in 2020, 2010, and 2000.
Advocacy
Through City, State, and Federal advocacy, we elevate our research recommendations to elected officials, government agencies, and private funders in order to affect changes in policy. Our advocacy efforts currently focus on ending hate violence against Asian New Yorkers, achieving an equitable pandemic recovery for Asian small businesses, improving language access, making accessible linguistically-appropriate and culturally-competent mental healthcare, and supporting our community-based organizations.
Economic Empowerment
AAF is working to help our communities sustain, promote, and grow their businesses. We provide Chinese, Korean, Indian, Bengali, and other pan-Asian small business owners with technical assistance, informational webinars, and digital marketing resources so the economic and cultural hearts of our neighborhoods can thrive.
Civic Engagement
Asian Americans are the fastest growing population in the City at 17 percent and contribute billions to New York’s economy, but systemic barriers prevent many from having a say in the decisions that impact us and our families. AAF leads the AAPI Power Coalition to promote the full civic empowerment of Asian American communities in all five boroughs by mobilizing and educating voters, ensuring everyone gets counted in the Census, and developing community leaders.
Programs
When our research uncovers new and underserved needs in the community, we design direct service programs that address these gaps. We raise money for these programs and re-grant funds to member organizations who can help us implement the programs on the ground. Our programs focus on community safety services, mental health, civic engagement, economic empowerment, immigrant integration, and non-profit support:
Hope Against Hate
In 2021 at the height of anti-Asian hate, we launched the Hope Against Hate Campaign to bring immediate safety to Asian New Yorkers. In partnership with 33 community-based organizations, our signature campaign provides victims with support services; small businesses, community centers, and faith institutions with safety information; and safety trainings and youth programming to the public.
Mental Health
AAF is committed to increasing awareness of and reducing stigma around mental health issues in Asian American communities. Our goal is to make sure every Asian American in New York City who needs mental health care is able to receive it in a language they speak, from providers who understand Asian cultures. AAF leads the Asian American Mental Health Roundtable with our consortium partners to support the mental health needs of New York’s pan-Asian community by advocating for policies, sharing resources, best practices, and addressing challenges in providing services.
Immigrant Integration
70 percent of the 1.5 million Asian New Yorkers are foreign born. To help the immigrants who form the backbone of our communities thrive, AAF works with our member agencies to provide Asian immigrants with the skills, training, and resources through community conversations, trainings, workforce development workshops, and outreach days that allow them to integrate easily into American life and achieve their American dreams.
Nonprofit Support
Asian-led, Asian-serving nonprofits are the on-the-ground experts when it comes to empowering our community. We strengthen the capacity of over 70 member agencies and partner organizations to better serve Asian New Yorkers by providing technical assistance workshops and capacity building programming.
Special Initiatives
As a leadership organization, our work is dynamic and responsive to the urgent needs that emerge from the community, even when they fall outside the scope of our regular work. For instance, the Hope Against Hate Campaign began as a special initiative to address violence against Asian New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seniors Working Group, our current initiative, was similarly launched as a response to Asian elders’ experiences of anti-Asian violence, poverty, hunger, and loneliness exacerbated by the pandemic.